Chaotic Quartet
by My-name-is-foxglove
Summary: The Slayers, Friendship, 50 sentences: Gourry's hand feels empty without a sword of light to hold, but –he glances at their noisy table for four- his heart is pretty full, so he doesn't mind much.


**Title:** The Smartass Sorceress, Idiotic Swordsman, Crazy Princess and Heartless Chimera  
**Fandom:** Slayers  
**Characters/Pairings:** Lina, Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadis. There aren't any pairings, though you can choose to see some TRAD hints, if you want.  
**Theme set:** Delta  
**Rating:** T  
**Warning[s]/Notes:** For Meg-chan (dqbunny) from LiveJournal- thanks for your donation to Help Haiti!

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#01 - Air

Lina took a deep breath of fresh air, and felt a twinge of satisfaction to see her companions do the same; the four of them had made it out of another bad situation, yet again- and these moments of giddy victory just didn't get old.

#02 - Apples

The red apple goes around the circle, from Zelgadis to Amelia ("_You fought harder than me today._") to Gourry ("_Keeping your friends hungry is unjust!_") to Lina ("_Eat up, Lina!_") to the dark sky ("_How am I supposed to eat this when you're all looking at me like that?!_").

#03 - Beginning

Zelgadis is startled for a moment when, for the first time ever, he feels like he _belongs_ to this crazy group of misfits (trading jokes, speeches, stories and grunts as they make their way to save the world is....bizarrely fitting).

#04 - Bugs

Lina makes them all swear, under pain of Dragon Slave, to never, ever reveal her phobia of sl-slu-_those vile_ _creatures_ to anyone from anywhere, no matter the circumstances (and she's confident that they won't, causes being a lot loyalty and a tiny smidge of fear).

#05 - Coffee

Gourry has a hard time remembering people, that's true- which is why Amelia and Zelgadis are touched when, after forgetting their names, the blond remembered they liked tea and coffee, respectively.

#06 - Dark

Sometimes, the bright, white light of Seillune seems so horribly stained and dull, it almost feels like it's _black_, and that scares Amelia- when it happens, she usually finds comfort in the light of her friends; but there are also moments where she think that the never-fading light of the Slayers is so very, very sad, despite its beauty (because there is no light in either of the four's families, and so they can only rely on each other to save them from the darkness that threatens to consume the world).

#07 – Despair

That little brat mazoku in front of her is just casually breaking her companions like it's nothing to him as they scream in pain; and though she's a legend, though she's supposedly strong and merciless, the sight of these strangers- no, her _friends_ falling to the ground freezes her up and strikes a terror in her like nothing and no one else can (_her azure eyes glazed and rid of their dramatic fire, his cobalt body still as the stone he never wanted to be, crystals, slowly breaking, long blonde hair-NO_!).

#08 – Doors

Gourry's never been the sharpest sword in the artillery, but even he can tell that when Lina and Amelia are arguing he should stay well out of the way of two women's wrath- unlike Zelgadis, who was close to intervening until Gourry promptly dragged him out the door, barely dodging two fireballs.

#09 – Drink

Celebrations are never quite as fun without all four of them there _("Alright guys, here's a toast! To money, spells and-!" "Lina-san! You promised!" "Er...yeah, okay, and friendship too, I guess- so BRING ON THE FOOD!!")._

#10 – Duty

As they tour the town, Zelgadis hides a not-too-exasperated-look under his mask; after all, it was his job to be the heartless, mystical swordsman- and nonverbally admitting he sometimes didn't mind witnessing the group's loud antics would be anything but heartless.

#11 – Earth

Lina doesn't want to think about the words of that stupid, idiotic, know-nothing killer she and Gourry had defeated on the way to Seillune- it makes her want to cast a Dragon Slave (_"You object to me killing, even though everyone's going to die and decay in the ground one day? You, your family, your friends, even that swordsman, you're all going to-AGH!"_).

#12 – End

Though they comment about making sure she doesn't resurrect after she's gone, inwardly all three of them dread the day the world loses Lina Inverse- it will be the end of something indescribably important.

#13 – Fall

Despite their previous argument, Lina and Amelia fight back to back, grinning at each other in the breathless intervals between attack and defence; and the two girls fighting together are an odd, rare combo and certainly not among the best- but neither of the two will ever let the other fall in battle, and that's the thing keeping them alive.

#14 – Fire

Xellos popped in for a surprise visit, intending to scare the four- but ended up glancing questioningly at Gourry's singed hair, Amelia and Zel's stifled laughs and Lina's crimson face ("...Dare I ask what happened?" "Mind your own business!").

#15 – Flexible

Lina would've been in a much better mood that day if her childhood friends hadn't tried to defend her bad posture in front of her whole ballet troop, ("Huh? But I thought Lina was doing just fine..." "I agree with Gourry-san!" "Amelia, you should get down before Lina gets mad-," "No! Judging a ballerina's stance based on her breast size is unjust!" "...Actually, stay up there so Lina can't kill you.")

#16 – Flying

This was their seventh Ray Wing race to decide who'd buy dinner (Lina & Gourry vs. Zelgadis & Amelia) but Lina was on such a cheating streak that if something wasn't done soon, Seillune was going to end up a poor Kingdom and Zel wouldn't be able to even afford coffee, let alone a cure; such is the price of friendship.

#17 – Food

It was an unspoken agreement among them that, as a last resort to food, Gourry and _only_ _Gourry_ cooked- the swordsman's survival food was the only meal guaranteed to not give everyone else food poisoning.

#18 – Foot

"Gourry, dig in your heels, Zel, put some back into it and Amelia _keep_ torturi- giving them justice speeches! No way are we letting them win _this_ tug-o-war!!"

#19 – Grave

"...heh, I guess we...saved the...world so many...times, I for...got we're.....not....unbeat..ab.......le.."

#20 – Green

There was a moment of silence after Zelgadis was accidentally dyed green by the art crazed magician- then the chimera started shaking with indignant rage and the rest of the Slayers slowly began to back away.

#21 – Head

After the Valgaav incident, it had become habitual for them to write to each other when they thought of it, and though Lina and Gourry missed some letters when they left an inn earlier than expected, Zel's messages were far and few in between and Amelia sometimes accidentally sent royal documents instead, it was still very pleasing when, after a long day of work and searches and fighting bandits, their impending headaches were soothed by the appearance of a sincere letter from an old friend.

#22 – Hollow

"Inverse, you'll be playing Dorothy, Gabriev, you're the scarecrow, Greywords, the cowardly lion and little sister, the tin man- er, girl. Ohohohoho~~!! Doesn't it fit you all PERFECTLY!?!?" ("_I am NOT some goody goody two shoes, you-!" "Just what part of me being cowardly **fits**?" "Nee-chan! Er, no, Sensei, am...am I really **heartless**?!" "Well, I'm not made of straw, but I'll do my best!")._

#23 – Honor

The scarred ninja and blond samurai both stared each other down with a frightening intensity, slowly reaching to grab their weapons; the crowd and two frightened girls stared with baited breath when suddenly- _"**Cut**!! Lina, for the last time, you're supposed to be scared for Gourry's life, _not_ eating teriyaki!!"_

#24 – Hope

"You know, servant- I look down at them, this strange group who has saved the world, and for the first time in a long, long while, I see hope."

#25 – Light

Gourry's hand feels empty without a sword of light to hold, but –he glances at their noisy table for four- his heart is pretty full, so he doesn't mind much.

#26 – Lost

Amelia knows her duty is to justice- and though she also knows that Lina-san doesn't always carry the beautiful practice out in the way Seillune's council would have liked it...though she knows that, even a princess can't bear to lose her friends.

#27 – Metal

He feels even more like an outcast when he first meets them- them with their smooth, soft, human skins and normal features, they couldn't possibly understand him, that is what he thought; but he learns, slowly, later on, that they honestly don't care about his stone skin (_because they know what it's like to be alone in the world_) and all that they're really bothered by is the steel cage surrounding his heart.

#28 – New

"Forget saving the world, I tell you it's these damn offspring of ours that are gonna be the death of us."

#29 – Old

They've gotten old, this quartet of heroes- hair has greyed or whitened, wrinkles have marred their faces and they've gotten just that little slower; but they still laugh and eat and joke and tease and grumble, so it's alright.

#30 – Peace

Amelia glanced slowly from the obviously furious Lina to the shaking with rage Zelgadis before looking up at Gourry with her eyebrow raised, silently asking if it was possible for the enraged duo to make up before they destroyed something (Gourry shook his head and Amelia despaired at Seillune's impending financial state).

#31 – Poison

She can feel something reaching inside her with sharp and ruthless claws, ploughing down her throat, drilling into her chest and grabbing her heart like an anaconda squeezes its prey, like a poison drowns it's victims' breaths; she chokes and grabs at her neck, tries to make it _go away,_ her friends have gathered now, pain, since when was she on the ground, _pain_, no, not ground, stone, they shouldn't worry it's okay, it's oka- **pain**, **_pain_**, **_PAI-_**

#32 – Pretty

Lina wouldn't ever admit it, but she likes it when she and Amelia go shopping together, as just two girls on a typical girls day out; the red head's pride wasn't bruised when it was _Amelia_ forcing her into those pretty dresses she felt like wearing once a blue moon, and the absence of the ever dry-comments of Zel and lack of Gourry's half-confused, half-she-didn't-know-what staring was a great bonus too.

#33 – Rain

Zelgadis stared at his blond friend as he stood under the rain, letting the droplets pelt his skin and soak him through ("_I don't want Lina to die like those people I killed_."), and couldn't help but think that Gourry was really just as scarred as any of them, under that mask of idiocy.

#34 – Regret

Colonel Gourry took in his future team with one look and held back a worried frown; in front of him stood General Luna's red headed little sister, rebelliously scowling, Admiral Rezo's brooding grandson (or was it great-grandson?) with his scarred face hidden and arms unfriendlyly crossed, and the infamously reckless General Seillune's equally reckless daughter, fidgeting with energy even as she saluted; kids like this didn't belong on the battlefield, what the hell was his Grandad thinking?

#35 – Roses

Normal people give each other roses, or chocolate, or some other gushy mushy object on Valentine's day; but Lina just grins widely at her various food certificates and slips of money, Gourry offers a warm smile for more additions to his scaled down sword collection, Zel looks almost impossibly thankful at the old books in his library and Amelia cries over some justice dedicated poetry and lyrics- the world says that the day is for lovers, but for them, it is simply a time to say 'I'm glad you're here', towards all the people they care about.

#36 – Secret

Filia-sensei can't believe Xellos-sensei can do his job, and so he glances at his bickering students while she stares disbelievingly at him; he hides a smile ("I don't understand- _how_ haven't they burned down the school yet, and with _you_ as their teacher at that!?!!" "That is a secre-" "Stupid sensei, stop flirting and get over here!!" "My precious students, are you trying to make me throw up?" "_I'm_ the one who wants to throw up..."), because the four are actually a lot more than they appear.

#37 – Snakes

Lina has had the sneaking suspicion of who Naga really was for a while now- but she couldn't possibly speak up about it, not with that hurt, abandoned look on Amelia's face whenever she talked about 'Gracia'.

#38 – Snow

"F-f-fine, I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry, o-o-o-o-ok-kay?! I-i-it w-was m-m-my f-f-fault w-w-we g-got s-stuck h-h-ere a-a-at th-the n-n-n-north p-pole. C-c-can't y-y-you j-just f-f-forgive m-m-me a-a-already?!!! Th-th-the c-c-cold sh-sh-shouldering i-i-is g-getting old, g-g-guys, r-r-really!!"

#39 – Solid

It's no secret that Lina liked her money (_cold and hard and able to do almost anything if you just used it right, it was a bit like her_), but, as she has learnt, 'money' can't keep you company in your travels or defend you in battle, and it can't give snarky comments to make you use some common sense, and it can't make you crack a smile in the middle of a rare tickle fight when you feel like an older sister for once, so....really, while money's great, it's not everything.

#40 – Spring

Amelia slowly started slumping as Zelgadis's latest letter went on to apologise and state he might not be able to make it in time for the reunion she'd suddenly sprung on all of them- she was about to let out a sigh, but then caught sight of his post script, similar to the one she'd also found on Lina-san and Gourry-san's letter when she'd been on the brink of depression at them not arriving, and a bright smile lit up her face, sure that every single one of her friends would be there next month ('_P.S: I'll try and make it.'_).

#41 – Stable

"You see, me and my friends were off our guard when this loony magician popped out of nowhere and, for some reason or other, cast spells on us. I was turned into a...a- **argh**, a _fox_, while Gourry was a dog and Amelia was a chipmunk. We're looking for Zel right now, and we basically think he's this new horse of yours with the 'strange blue and purple markings'."

#42 – Strange

As he stepped into the ring, Gourry glanced with a resigned expression at the empty seats meant for his family and friends, before suddenly looking up as the most amazing sounds greeted his ears and energy filled him from head to toe ("_To hell with ballet auditions, kick that loser Zangalus's ass, Gourry!!!!!" "I left the trial just for you, so fight on, Gourry-san!!" "You better not make me regret missing that library opening, Gourry!!")._

#43 – Summer

The Slayers lay about the cruise ship's lounge chairs, sweating heavily under the glaring sun, their hands reaching for a cool drink every five minutes, and faces red with the heat ("Whoever...chickens out first has to...pay the bill...").

#44 – Taboo

They know this is probably their final battle when they gather around the campfire and recall every single one of their childhood memories to share- there is a big chance they won't be able to walk away this time, and so they let out all those words that they felt were forbidden to share; because, if anyone falls, they want their friends to remember who they _were_ too, not just who they died as.

#45 – Ugly

Gourry sometimes feels like he's kinda the big brother figure in the group, so of course when some stranger calls Amelia's justice 'ugly' and makes her burst into tears, he has to do _something_ to the guy before Zel and Lina get to him and there's nothing left to beat up.

#46 – War

Colonel Gourry looks his team over, and can't stop the smile creeping up his face- they've all grown tremendously, him included, to be able to stand here as such an unshakable, unified front- today, the day it all, hopefully, finally ends ("_We're ready for your orders, Colonel jellyfish_.").

#47 – Water

They've just discovered an underwater city but they're not even phased- one or two of them alone attract trouble, but the four of them together attract everything no one knew existed.

#48 – Welcome

They haven't seen each other for a while, and the hugs and smiles and grins they share seem to say, with big coloured neon lights, 'Welcome back'.

#49 – Winter

Though the Slayers didn't like fighting -or lowering their pride and making up-, they knew deep down that they couldn't really stay mad at each other forever -that's a part of the package called friendship- and that it was really only a matter of time until Zel or Gourry or Lina or Amelia came sulking back with a 'sorry', be it the hottest summer day or the coldest winter night.

#50 – Wood

So Lina's burning down another building, Gourry comments on how familiar the smell of burning wood and stone is now, Zel gripes about their habit of attracting trouble and Amelia is starting up another justice speech- it is chaos, pure and simple (_and all is right with the world)._


End file.
